1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to exercise and athletics. More particularly it relates to a resilient resistive exercise device for runners which provides an elastic resistive force during running exercise which is self-contained and portable.
2. Prior Art
Competitive sports where athletes compete in various forms of athletic endeavors have been popular since the athletic contests started in ancient Greece. In training for such contests athletes continually seek means for exercise which will allow them, for example, to run faster and jump higher and for longer distances.
Every year records for different athletic contests continue to be broken which causes an elevation of the goals for subsequent athletes. As a consequence, athletes continue to seek exercise and training regimens and equipment to aid in their quest to meet and surpass these increasing performance levels.
For many athletic activities, such as for example sprinting and middle distance running, basketball, football, baseball and soccer, leg strength, core strength, and speed enhancement remains a crucial element to improved performance. For many of such athletic activities which require running and sprinting, athletes need more than just excellent leg strength. In addition they must have quick leg acceleration and high knee lift, while concurrently having the good form to maintain the knees in reasonable alignment.
As a result of the stressing of high knee lift, as a characteristic of good sprinting form, in recent years trainers have stressed in their coaching to athletes to run with “high knees.” As a consequence, in training for their sport many athletes artificially exaggerate their knee lift during sprinting and focus on training the hip flexors.
This focus on exaggerated knee lifting and hip flexor training is the wrong approach. The characteristically high knee lift of sprinters, is a byproduct of a powerful downward leg drive. Isaac Newton's first law of motion states, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. As a consequence, the energy and force generated by such a powerful downward leg drive, is directed downward into the ground. The ground concurrently exerts and equal and opposite force which is then returned to the athlete, propelling their leg forward and upward.
The resulting upward and forward movement of the leg is additionally aided by the elastic stretch reflex nature of the muscle fibers. During the backswing of the leg in a running motion, the leg can only move a limited rearward distance. This is due to the resistance of the hip flexors to such motion which communicate a spring like elastic reflex to the leg, which then propels the leg forward and upward.
There are a large number of prior art references which teach methods and components configured to aid in the sprinting training of athletes. For example U.S. Pat. No. 7,494,453 (Wehrell) teaches the employment of a device for improving sprint speed which tethers the user to the device. However, Wehrell by tethering the user, restricts their movements and their ability to exercise without the apparatus.
A similar apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,428 (Earl) which teaches an apparatus which is configured to provide resistance to the hip flexors during use. However, as noted earlier, this is the incorrect muscle group on which to focus exercise for the athlete to develop running speed.
As such, there exists an unmet need, for a system and apparatus which is configured to strengthening the hip extensors (hamstrings and gluteus) during use. Unlike the tethered devices and systems taught in prior art, such a device should be fully portable allowing the user to use it anywhere, while concurrently allowing the user to run and exercise unrestrained during such use.
It should be noted, the forgoing examples of related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the exercise device and method described and claimed herein. Various limitations of the related art are already known or will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.
An object of the present invention is the provision of a sprinting exercise device which is configured to provide a strengthening of the hip extensors during use.
It is another object of the invention to provide such an exercise device, which is configured to be worn by the user during use, thereby allowing such use anywhere.
Further objectives of this exercise invention will be brought out in the following parts of the specification wherein the summary and detailed description of the invention are for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.